Trunk



(No Model.)

F. J. PALIOA.

TRUNK.

No. 451,513. Patented May 5,1891.

W M I I w l M M .1 Q

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. PALIGA, OF RACINE, \VISCONSIN.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent N0. 451,513, dated May 5,1891.

v Application filed December 3, 1890. serial No. 873,432. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. PALICA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a new and useful Trunk, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to improvements in trunks; and the objectsin view are to provide a strong durable trunk devoid of sharp corners,and therefore less apt to become injured by rough handling and toprotect the hinges of the cover and locate them at such points as willprevent them from contact with other objects during such handling.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear,and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in theclaims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a trunkconstruct-ed in accordance with my invention, the same being open. Fig.2 is a similar view taken from the rear, the same being closed. Fig. 3is a vertical transverse section,the lid thrown back. Fig. 4 is a detailin perspective of the hinge.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

1 designates the opposite end. walls of the trunk-body, the upper edgesof which decline toward the front and terminate at their rear ends ininclined shoulders 2, directly in rear of which they are beveled, as at3, and connected by a thickened corner cross-piece 4, the outer face ofwhich is rounded. The bottom 5, rear wall 6, and front 7 are of theusual construction.

In constructing the top or cover the same consists of opposite endpieces 8, connected by the superimposed roof-piece 9, said end pieceshaving their front edges beveled, as at 10, similar to the beveled ends3 and connected by means of a front transverse thickened corner-strip11, the outer face of which is rounded similar to the strip 4. The underedges of the end pieces 8 are also inclined in contradistinction to theinclination of the upper edges of the end walls 1 of the trunkbody.

The valance 12 is formed of the usual strip or sheet metal, and istacked or otherwise secured to the edges of the cover, and consists ofthe front portion 13, the rearwardly and upwardly disposed side or endportions 14,

and the rear upper transverse portion l5,designed to cover the intervalbetween the rear edge of the trunk-cover and that of the body of thetrunk, said interval, it will be observed, occurring upon the top of thetrunk or in advance of what would be the corner of the same if such wereactually formed, so that in handling the trunk, subject as it is to therough usage and shocks, the cover is not liable to be torn off by comingin contact with other obstacles.

16 designates the usual strips for binding the trunk and its cover, andit will be observed that they comprise in this instance, as heretofore,a bodybinding section and a cover-binding section, the meeting ends ofthe strips occurring directly above the rear edge of the valance, and asthey snugly embrace all portions of the trunk with which they havecontact it will be observed that they are curved and partake of therounded corners of the trunk.

If desired, an ordinary trunk-hinge may be employed in connection withmy improved trunk, the onlychange necessary being to invert the hinge,so as to place the pintle-receiving eyes upon the inner side and betweenthe two meeting ends of the strip-sections 16. In this position it willbe observed that the hinge presents simply a plain surface, and thepintles being upon the inside and guarded by the meeting ends of thestrips 16 are not liable to be torn off during handling. It is alsonecessary to curve slightly the outer hinge-leaf, so as to agree withthe curvature of the rear end of that section of strip 16 which extendsalong the rear wall of the trunk. It will be noticed, also, that thepoint of pivot between the hinged leaves, which is the pintle, occursnot at the corner of the trunk where it is liable to be struck byvarious objects, but considerably up upon the top of the trunk out ofthe usual range. In the present instance I make an addition to the usualhinge, whereby the same is not only securely guarded itself, but alsoacts in a manner to guard the corners and edges of the strip-sectionswhere they meet, which construction I will now proceed to describe.

17 designates the rear leaf or section of the hinge, which is secured byscrews, nails, or rivets 18 securely to the rear section of the strip16, said section being curved so as to fit snugly over the strip, asshown, and is provided at its front end and at opposite sides withdepending strip-embracing ears or lugs 19. At its front and center theleaf is provided with a pintle-eye 20, which aligns with 5 the pair ofpintle-eyes 21 of the front hinge section or leaf 22, which is securedby screws, nails, or rivets 23 to the rear end of the coven stripsection 16, and said leaf-section, like the section 17, is provided withopposite depending strip-embracing ears 2s. The eyes of the two leavesare connected by the pintle 25. If desired, the end wall of the body andthat of the cover maybe connected by the hinged or pivoted sections 26of the usual brace.

From the above description it will be seen that I provide a trunk whichby the construction of hinge shown and its location permits of theopening of the cover to a limited extent-namely, a little overone-quarter of the revolution or ninety-five degrees-and thus theaccidental falling back of the cover and injury to its connections inthe event of the breaking of the brace or stay26 is impossible. It willalso be seen that the space between the cover and the edges of the bodyare thoroughly protected by means of the valance constructed, asdescribed, that the corners are rounded of both the body and the cover,and hence deep indentations avoided, and that the pintles of the hinges,as well as the hinges themselves, are located at such a point as to beout of the way and not liable to be torn off, and that said hinges areso constructed as to protect the ends of the strips, and thus preventthem from tearing off and engaging with adjacent objects.

It will be seen that I provide a trunk which is rounded off at the topboth in front and rear, this feature of construction being one muchsought after by purchasers. It will also be seen that by rounding offand extending the rear wall of the trunk up over the top, so as to bringthe line of separation between the cover and the top in advance of therear wall of the trunk-body, I am enabled to place the hinges in such aposition where they will not be injured.

By reference to Fig. a it will be seen that the pintle of thehinge-leaves is not directly coincident with the line of separationbetween the cover and the body, but, on the contrary, is set backslightly, so as to cause the cover to be self-supporting when raised.liy this means it is not really necessary to use the braces 26, and Ihave therefore omitted them from this figure, though it is difficult tomake customers understand this.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, witha trunk-body having its rear wall extended over and upon the upper edgeof the body and curved and a coverfitting this reduced opening of thebody, of strips secured to the exterior of the body and coverand havingtheir adjacent ends occurring a slight distance in rear of the meetingedges of said body and cover, thereby providing an intermediate space,and a hinge the leaves of which are curved to agree with the curvatureof the strips and having their pintle-receiving eyes located upon theirunder side and between the ends of the strips, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination, with the trunk-body comprising the opposite endwalls having their upper edges inclined and terminating in front andrear beveled faces, the front and rear wall, the bgttom, and the rearupper curved transverse strip secured to the rear beveled faces of theend walls and having its exterior rounded, of the cover hinged to theupper edge of said strip and having its lower edge inclined tocorrespond with the upper edges of the end walls and having the upperfront corners of its end walls beveled, a transverse strip connectingthe two and having its exterior rounded or curved, the valancestrapextending along the front edge of the cover, up the inclined sidesthereof, and over the rear edge of the same, the strip-sections roundedand connected to the cover and to the body of the trunk, and the hingesconnected to the strip-sections, substantially specified.

The combination, with the trunkbody having its rear wall curved at itsupper end and extending over the upper edge of the body and a coverfitting the reduced opening of the body and having strips connectedsnugly thereto, the adjacent ends of which combine to form a spaceadjacent to the meeting edges of the cover and body, of a hinge theleaves of which are secured to said strip-sections and pivoted to eachother, the pintle side being underneath, each of said leaves beingprovided at opposite sides and at their meeting ends with dependingstripembracing guard-ears, substantially as specilied.

4C. The trunk-body having the upper edges of the opposite end wallsinclining from the front toward the rear, at which point they join withinclined shoulders 2, the rear faces of which are also inclined orbeveled, the thickened corner cross-piece 4-, the outer face of which isrounded, fitting upon the beveled faces of the shoulders 2, and thecover hinged at its rear edge to the piece 4, the end pieces of thecover having their front edges beveled, and the front transversethickened strip 11, fitting the beveled edge, set in between theadjacent edges of the top and front wall of the cover, and having itsouter face rounded, whereby the top of the trunk is made rounding atboth front and rear, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK I. PALILA.

Witnesses:

J. E. Doneu, F. M. FISH.

IIO

